


we'll keep trying

by furriendly



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Genre: Character Study, Depression, Dissociation, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 10:25:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15337881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/furriendly/pseuds/furriendly
Summary: He is everything, except a boy.





	we'll keep trying

A boy without a face is not a boy after all. He's anything but, and everything but. He knows this now, and it only took him three days. Had it been three days? Oh gods what day was it, look at the moon, no don't look, it's watching, ask Tatl she knows.

She's as weary as him. She is only a fairy. She lost count before he did.

He is everything, except a boy. He's a deku scrub. He's a giant. He's a friend. 

He learned the songs, but he can't hear them anymore. 

-:-:-:-

"Why are we here?" He hears foggily in the back of his head. It draws him out of his stupor. He was slipping again without realizing.

The boy, no not a boy, a goron, looks up from his stumbling too-large feet. He stands at a high cliff in Ikana, steep walls before him, rushing water below, far below, down down into another world inside of a world. He wonders if they wear masks there.

"Link!" Oh, right, Tatl. He forgot to answer. When was the last time he spoke? Tatl was the only one who called him Link. She was the only one who thought he was a boy. He could never muster the courage to tell her the truth. 

He knows that she prefers when he takes off the masks to speak to her, so he does that. He'll keep up the lie because he knows it helps her. He misses Navi. 

He looks to his right, to Tatl, and tries fruitlessly to find her face. He hasn't seen a face that wasn't painted on a mask in... three days. What day was it? Where's the moon, what day is it oh no he's too late Clock Town--

"Link, for Farore's sake!" Tatl cries, waving frantically in his eyes. He blinks. Whoops, he slipped again. Quick, answer her.

"Yes?"

Tatl groans in that tinny voice. He wonders if she talks out of her mouth, or do fairies just send sound out with their radiance? Tatl said she has a face like his (not his, like a boy's). He wants to see it, but he probably won't until she stops shining like a star, and he doesn't want to see her die so he'll just keep searching through the glow.

"I said, why are we here? Ikana Castle is the other way." She emphasizes with a twirl behind Link. He glances back, and then looks back to the canyon.

"I don't know. Sorry." He apologizes.

Tatl doesn't say anything. There's nothing to say. She can't expect him to answer, not anymore.

Link takes a step toward the edge, leaning over dangerously. Tatl flies forward in a panic, but he only sits on the cliff. The earth is hard, cracked, baking in the sun. He soaks up the warmth underneath him like a sponge, and yet it is squeezed out of him immediately by the cold roar of the river below.

"Let's go back to Clock Town," Tatl says nervously. Link shakes his head slowly. He lets his limbs go lax as he leans over, knees touching his chest.

He studies the water until he can feel the spray tickle his cheeks, the gray choppy waves beckon, and he is engulfed in a numbness that feels so so good, finally he can get some rest.

And he blinks. Ah, he slipped. He's been doing that a lot lately. He knows it upsets Tatl, so he turns to apologize.

She's laying next to him, cold and dim.

There's a light flicker, but he can see her face now. It's nothing like a boy's, it's soft and pretty and her eyelashes cover her cheeks. He scoops her in his hands, swift but gentle, and calls to her.

"Tatl, Tatl!" He cries.

She's slipping.

He nudges under her chin with a chubby finger. She opens her eyes and her glow comes back, a little stronger.

"I'm so tired, Link." 

He gazes out into the distance, where he can see the castle looming.

"Me, too."

-:-:-:-

He opens his notebook. He's helped everyone by now. (How long did it take? Months? Years?) He has to believe it'll all be worth it in the end. If he doesn't, he might revisit that cliffside and that would make Tatl sad. He has to try, for her. 

He snaps it shut. Clock Town is so empty, as per usual on the last day. Everyone flees, even though it won't matter. But this time, he hopes it'll be because of him.

He and Tatl share a look, and he smiles. It's small, broken and sad, but Tatl jingles giddily at it anyway before zipping back under his hat. He feels her anxiously braid the loose strands by the nape of his neck. It tickles, but he won't dare complain. Navi did the same for him.

The tower chimes. The door opens. And right now, Link tells himself, he is a boy, and he's going home.

**Author's Note:**

> been very depressed lately, but i want to keep trying. i hope you enjoyed


End file.
